Penguin Island

A group of eight girls adventured for two hours on two buses and two train lines down to Rockingham.  On Sundays in WA transit only comes once an hour so it is nearly impossible to get anywhere within a reasonable time. Somehow I lucked out and made each different transition within ten minutes of each other.The transit cost us $8.48 to get there but only $2.93 to get home which is still puzzling as it was the same distance and exact bus/train lines. It was a mildly colder day with a temperature of 26C and a significant wind all day long.

Fun fact: Penguin Island is the last island or land mass between Australia and Africa. Penguin Island is a part of the Shoalwater Islands off of the coast of Rockingham. Rockingham is equivalent to Forest Lawn but it has an entire tourist based economy - still sketchy to be traveling through. Penguin Island is host to 10,000 little penguins and the second largest home of the Tiger Snake. Little Penguins are adorable and stand 15 cm tall. Little Penguins only exist within Australia and are bred on this island mixed with wild ones that appear every year. They tend to live 10-14 years and give birth every 6 months. Tiger Snakes are one of the most deadly Australian reptiles. With one bite you are given a life expectancy of 8 hours. They prey on Little Penguins, random lizards, and human flesh which is awesome to hear. Luckily, we did not see any snakes whilst on the island or tour.

The island set is also host to Australian sea lions which are like Hawaiian sea lions but on a diet. I took a cruise around the island set to see them in their wild aspects on rocky beaches. As fit international kids, we did the 10 km walk around the island in under an hour. We found a sea lion just singing on the beach on the north side. They are not as tame as the Hawaiian sea lions which is understandable - they are not as domesticated and only male Australian sea lions migrate south during the gestation period of 15 months. They legit leave the females up north to feed themselves and breed the baby sea lions - males are only migratory when they need to produce offspring every two years.

It was a good waste of a Sunday afternoon but I would not recommend it to anyone. You really don't see any wild penguins as advertised and it was freaking cold out due to the wind.

AFN